Sheffield Crown Court: Jail for driver who crashed into two cars, fled and blamed his crimes on thieves

As he jailed 30-year-old defendant, Neil Day, for his crimes, the judge, Recorder Abdul Iqbal, told him: “It seems you had little or no regard for the safety of other motorists.”

During a hearing on March 15, Sheffield Crown Court heard how after leaving the car park of the New Lodge Co-Op in Barnsley in his Vauxhall Corsa vehicle, Day collided with two vehicles travelling in moving traffic.

“It [Day’s car] was being driven as if you couldn’t care less about the safety of others...and you did cause significant damage to two other vehicles,” added Recorder Iqbal.

After colliding with the two vehicles, one of which was a Jaguar, Day failed to stop and sped off down Wakefield Road.

A man known to Day witnessed the incident and subsequently identified him as the driver to police, the court heard.

Prosecution barrister, Giles Bridge, told the court that one of the drivers Day crashed into took a week off work following the incident due to a muscular injury caused during the collision, while the other driver had to pay a £500 excess to her insurance company and lost her no claims bonus as a result of the damage Day caused to her vehicle.

Mr Bridge said that shortly after the crashes had taken place, someone contacted South Yorkshire Police and reported that Day’s Corsa had been stolen.

“They said they had been working on the car, they had left the keys on the floor, and the keys had been stolen…about half an hour before the road traffic collison,” said Mr Bridge.

Day, of Standhill Crescent, Barnsley, only holds a provisional driving licence and was interviewed by police.

CRIME: Man charged over stabbing outside Sheffield club

He denied that he had been driving the Corsa at the time of the accident, and ‘maintained’ that the police report had been ‘genuine,’ the court heard.

He also filled in police forms to that effect.

Day later acknowledged the police report was false, and that he had been involved in the collision, when he pleaded guilty to charges of perverting the course of justice and dangerous driving, respectively, at an earlier hearing.

Edward Moss, defending, said Day suffers from conditions including emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which affect the lungs, and as such, he would be more at risk if he were to be sent to prison, where the number of Covid cases are disproportionately higher.

Mr Moss said Day also suffers from mental health problems, for which he takes medication.

He told the court that Day would no longer be able to take a relative with epilepsy to school as a result of his offending, although Recorder Iqbal questioned whether this was a role that could have solely fallen to Day, legally, due to him only holding a provisional licence.

Recorder Iqbal jailed Day for 14 months, and banned him from driving for two years, seven months.

Referring to his perverting the course of justice offence, he told him: “Your offending goes to the very heart of the administration of justice, and was designed to ensure that you do not face justice.”